Sandbags available in Allen, surrounding counties for flooding

Rain, melting snow to free trapped water.

Emergency management officials in Allen and three other area counties are making sandbags available to residents facing a threat of flooding from rain and melting snow.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the northern quarter of Indiana from this morning through late today. It says a combination of melting snow, moderate to locally heavy rainfall and a deeply frozen ground may cause flooding.

The weather service says up to an inch of rainfall is expected today and an additional 1 to 2 inches of water could be released from the snow on the ground as it melts.

Fill-yourself sandbags are available in Huntington, LaGrange, and Steuben counties and in Allen's highway department's salt storage units at 2234 Carroll Road and 8317 E. East Tillman Road.

Weather service meteorologists say temperatures that could hit the 50s and 60s Thursday also could bring two other springlike hazards — high winds and flooding — before temperatures drop into the icebox again next week.

Local weather

The Fort Wayne area is under a flood watch because of rain Thursday combined with melting snow. Longer-duration river flooding will also be possible into this weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Also, the weather service issued a wind advisory that will be in effect from 7 p.m. Thursday to 6 p.m. Friday. Winds from the southwest could be 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph. That will make travel on west-east roads difficult. See news-sentinel.com for updates.